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Wednesday 9 JulyOn this day in...
1810: Napoleon annexed Holland, making his brother, Louis, its king.
1816: Argentina declared independence from Spain at the Congress of Tucuman.
1877: The first Wimbledon Lawn Tennis championship was held at its original site at Worple Road.
1922: Johnny Weissmuller, aged 18, swam the 100 metres in under a minute (58.6 sec).
1938: In anticipation of World War II, 35 million gas masks were issued to Britain's civilian population.
1979: In Nicaragua, General Somoza was overthrown by the Sandinista rebels.
1984: Lightning struck York Minster and set the roof on fire, destroying the south transept.
1991: The International Olympic Committee lifted a 21-year-old boycott on South Africa.
1994: The government of the People's Republic of China announced that Hong Kong's legislative council would be terminated on China's resumption of sovereignty in 1997.
2000: US tennis player Pete Sampras won his 7th singles tennis championship at Wimbledon and an unprecedented 13th Grand Slam title.
Born on this day in...
1819: Elias Howe, US inventor of the sewing machine
1888: Bruce Bairnsfather, British cartoonist
1901: Barbara Cartland, English novelist
1916: Edward Heath, British politician
1935: Michael Williams, English actor
1937: David Hockney, English painter
Died on this day in...
1440: Jan van Eyck, Flemish painter
1797: Edmund Burke, British statesman
1850: Zachary Taylor, 12th US president
1932: King Camp Gilette, US safety-razor inventor
1984: Randall Thompson, US composer |
